External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said Jadhav was "visibly under stress" and indicated that clearly to the Indian consular officers
Current Affairs: India on Thursday said Pakistan did not give “unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional” consular access to Indian death row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav in violation of an order by an international tribunal and its officials left the meeting venue after lodging a protest. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said Jadhav was “visibly under stress” and indicated that clearly to the Indian consular officers, adding the arrangements did not permit a free conversation between them.
He said the consular officers could not engage Kulbhushan Jadhav on his legal rights and were prevented from obtaining his written consent for arranging his legal representation. Earlier, Pakistan announced that it provided consular access to Jadhav ahead of a deadline to file a review petition in a Pakistani court against his conviction by a military court on charges of espionage and terrorism.
“The consular officers were not given unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional access to Jadhav. On the contrary, Pakistani officials with an intimidating demeanour were present in close proximity of Jadhav and consular officers despite the protests of the Indian side,” Srivastava said.He said it was also evident from a camera that was visible that the conversation with Jadhav was being recorded.
Chinese actions led to rising tensions and face-off, says ministry
Current Affairs: In its most strident comments on the recent border clashes with China, India on Thursday blamed Beijing for “amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)” since early May. It said this has led India to take counter measures, which increased the tension in border areas. It warned China that a continuation of the situation would only vitiate the atmosphere for the development of the relationship. New Delhi accused Beijing of repeatedly flouting laid-down agreements and norms on handling border tensions.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in an online media briefing, said the Chinese amassing of troops and armaments along the LAC was at the heart of the recent face-offs between the ground troops of the two sides. The MEA said the Chinese actions led to the increase in tension in the region and also led to the violent face-off of June 15. As many as 20 Indian soldiers, including a commanding officer, were killed and 76 injured. China has admitted to casualties, but is yet to disclose numbers.
The MEA said the Chinese side hindered India’s normal, traditional patrolling pattern in the Galwan Valley area from early May. While the resulting face-off was addressed by the ground commanders, according to the provisions of the bilateral agreements, the Chinese side sought to change the status quo in other areas of the western sector in mid-May….
It said it would continue holding talks “for peace and tranquillity” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
A day after a 11-hour border meeting between senior military commanders of India and China, Beijing has welcomed an agreement to “cool down the situation”. It said it would continue holding talks “for peace and tranquillity” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Describing the meeting, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson said: “This meeting showed that the two sides wish to control and alleviate the situation through dialogue and consultation.”
Beijing flatly rejected the contention of Union Minister General V K Singh (retired) that more than 40 Chinese soldiers had been killed in the Ladakh face-off. “I can tell you for sure this is fake news,” said the MFA spokesperson. Accompanying Beijing’s talk of “dialogue and consultation”, however, is a massive Chinese troop build-up along the border in Ladakh.
Since the June 15 clash, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has inducted large numbers of troops, armoured vehicles, and artillery along the LAC – from Depsang and Galwan in northern Ladakh to Hot Springs, Pangong Tso, and Chushul in central Ladakh, to Demchok and Chumar in southern Ladakh, said a well-informed government source.
The clinic is supported by the aid group Doctors Without Borders, according to Unicef, the UN children’s agency
Militants stormed a maternity hospital in the western part of Kabul on Tuesday, setting off an hours-long shootout with the police and killing 16 people, including two newborn babies, their mothers and an unspecified number of nurses, Afghan officials said. While the battle was underway, Afghan security forces struggled to evacuate the facility carrying out babies and frantic young mothers, according to images shared by the interior ministry, news agency PTI reported The clinic is supported by the aid group Doctors Without Borders, according to Unicef, the UN children’s agency.
But the day’s spasm of violence extended beyond Kabul. A suicide bomber in eastern Nangarhar province a hotbed of the Islamic State group targeted a funeral ceremony, killing 24 people and wounding 68. And in eastern Khost province, a bomb planted in a cart in a market killed a child and wounded 10 people.
The violence could further undermine a peace process in the wake of a deal signed between the United States and the Taliban in February, which envisages the start of talks among key Afghan figures, including government representatives, and the Taliban. Relentless, near-daily attacks have also left Afghan authorities ill-prepared to face the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 4,900 people in the country and killed at least 127.
Flights have been planned to Gulf, New York, London, Chicago, Dhaka, San Francisco and Singapore
India plans to airlift almost 15,000 stranded citizens across the world from 24 different countries starting from May 7. The exercise is being touted as one of the largest ever undertaken by any country. According to an internal plan prepared by the Ministry of External Affairs and reviewed by Business Standard, while priority is the Gulf region, where 70 percent of non-resident Indians live, India will also bring back stranded citizens from London, Singapore, San Francisco, New York, Washington, Kuala Lumpur, Chicago in the first week itself.
The MEA clarified yesterday that this is a reaptriation exercise and not an evacuation, which means that passengers returning will have to bear the cost of their air ticket. According to the plan, the passengers coming from Gulf will arrive at Kochi and Kozhikode, citizens from UK and USA will be brought back to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi.
The exercise will run into several weeks and will see state-owned carrier Air India, private airlines, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy joining hands to bring back the citizens. India’s evacuation of 1,70,000 civilians from Kuwait during the 1990 Gulf war has been the world’s largest evacuation exercise of civilians by air. India had then operated a little less than 500 flights, mostly by Air India, over two months. More than 25 years later, the feat also inspired the Akshay Kumar-starrer Bollywood flick ‘Airlift’…Read More
Will have to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival
After 24 hours of hectic parleys, India gained Beijing’s permission to airlift Indians from Wuhan. A Boeing 747 VT-ESO will leave Mumbai at midnight to airlift 250 Indians. “Once they are brought back, they will be kept in quarantine for two weeks,” said Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday.
Sources said Beijing buckled under pressure from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). “Our crew was ready to go. The permission took time,” said an Air India executive. Meanwhile, IndiGo, too, has advised its pilots and cabin crew to wear masks and avoid public places during layovers in Thailand, China, Vietnam, and Singapore.
Stepping up its preparation to fight the threat of a potential novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak, the Indian government on Tuesday said that screening of passengers would be expanded to 20 airports along with adding new laboratories to test the virus. So far 35,000 passengers have been screened in India. Vardhan held a review meeting on Tuesday to take stock of the situation. He said that in the next one or two days, passenger screening would be expanded to 20 airports, from the current seven. At present, thermal screening of passengers coming from China is being done at the seven big airports — Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kochi.
Vardhan said the government plans to test the virus at 10 laboratories across the country. At present, only the National Institute of Virology in Pune is conducting the tests; so far, 20 samples have been sent to the Pune lab…
The buses were heading to the beach-resort town of Hurghada on Saturday when they collided with the truck near Ain Sokhna town, about 120 kilometres east of Cairo
Three Indians were killed and 13 others injured when two buses carrying tourists crashed into a truck in Egypt’s Suez governorate, the Indian embassy here said on Sunday. The buses were heading to the beach-resort town of Hurghada on Saturday when they collided with the truck near Ain Sokhna town, about 120 kilometres east of Cairo.
“We regret to inform that 3 Indian citizens have lost their lives in the bus accident that occurred on 28 December near Ain Sokhna. Others who are injured are receiving medical treatment at various hospitals in Egypt,” the Indian embassy in Egypt tweeted. It said the relatives of the deceased and the injured have been contacted and all assistance is being rendered to them.
“Embassy officials are present at the hospitals and in touch with hospital authorities,” the mission said. The embassy said there were 16 Indian tourists on the buses. According to the local media, the deceased also include two Malaysians and three Egyptians. More than 20 people were injured and rushed to the hospital. Road accidents occur in Egypt mainly due to damaged roads and poor traffic regulations. In 2018, there were 8,480 road accidents compared with 11,098 the previous year, according to the bureau of statistics…
